backward water pump leak

Question

Recently my wife got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and turned the water pump switch on. She forgot we were connected to city water and when she flushed the stool the water pump ran. I turned it off quickly and went back to bed. Next morning there was a lot of water outside as the city water pressure was leaking backward through the pump and out the fresh water tank drain. I turned off city water, put water in fresh tank and turned on pump. It was rough for a short period of time but smoothed out. Turned it off and reconnected city water with no other problems so far. Anyone ever do this and did the pump survive? Should I consider having a spare pump on hand? Thank you for any info.

scottg · Answer

If I understand your concern correctly, I can tell you there's no problem having the pump on or even having it running while connected to city water.
If the city supply pressure is lower than the set point of the pump, the pump will run.
It sounds like a check valve failed though. But that's a separate issue and not a common scenario when one runs the pump with city water connected.

opnspaces · Answer

I would guess it's not a problem. I don't know what happened, but it sounds like somehow the campground water forced the pump to stop in a position where water could bypass back to the tank. It's not supposed to do that, but I wouldn't worry about it unless the pump starts acting up.

beemerphile1 · Answer

A piece of dirt or debris was preventing the pump back check valve from sealing.  Once you put water in the tank and ran the pump, the debris dislodged allowing the back check valve to seal.  No worries.

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backward water pump leak

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